Beyond Bluegrass Slow Jam - 9/1

Ran Bush

Beyond Bluegrass Slow Jam

This jam is open to anyone that wants experience playing and singing classic and contemporary songs from American folk, country, rock, and bluegrass traditions at moderate tempos in a supportive, educational, fun jam setting.

Songs could be played from Hank Williams, the Carter Family, Old Crow Medicine Show, the Louvin Brothers, Gram Parsons, Allison Krauss, and many others. The instructor, Ran Bush, will help to avoid "jam buster" songs and act as the Jam Lifeguard; for example, the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil" would fit well with this format, but probably not "Uncle John's Band". Many Emmylou Harris songs would work, but Joni Mitchell or Tori Amos songs, probably not.

Attendees are encouraged to bring songbooks, chord charts, and tablature; if you're going to introduce a song for us to play, please bring at least a few chord charts to share with other players. We can also write the chords out on a white board in the class room, and go over the chords before we play the song if we need to.

*Prerequisites: you should have a sense of humor, and be able to play basic chords on your acoustic instrument smoothly, at 120-140 beats per minute (quarter note beats). Guitar and banjo players should have a capo, and every player should bring a tuner and use it often.
Singers should know what key they sing in, and/or bring chord charts for other players to use if possible.

Note: although this session is not meant to be a beginner-level jam, it is also not a full-speed jam. If you have any questions about whether this would be a good session for you to attend, please email Ran Bush at ranbush@gmail.com.
Testimonials:
• You were so patient, helpful, and friendly yesterday and I can't thank you enough! You will definitely be seeing more of me now that I've found your jams.
• Hi Ran, I really enjoyed the jam - it's a great way to learn. As you can probably tell, I've done most of my playing at home, solo, so the jamming etiquette is new to me.

Ran Bush

Ran Bush has played music professionally in the Monterey Bay area and San Francisco Bay area for over thirty years. He also taught software classes at local community colleges for fifteen years. These experiences are now combined, helping others to listen, learn, and sing and play music in a fun, supportive environment.